All boys and girls go through a process of ‘mamitis’ where separating from the mother can be quite a drama. He just wants to be with mom 24 hours and not being can be a great emotional pain for the little one. There are no studies that show that too much love is harmful to children, far from it! But, is mastitis synonymous with children with too much attachment or is it something natural and totally normal?

mastitis in young children

Children have mastitis when they just want to be with mom and for mom to do everything for them, so much so that they don’t even want to walk on their own, just mom’s arms and pampering. They feel great frustration when they have to separate from their mother and have a really bad time. Children get frustrated even when they can be cared for by other trusted people like grandparents or even the father.

For young children, the mother is their whole world since they need her for everything. As they grow older they begin to be more independent and show their abilities and skills. When they have mastitis, this independence is blurred by excessive attachment to the mother.

When does mastitis appear?

Mastitis is a phase that all or almost all children go through at different developmental stages and usually occurs because the child feels insecure about discovering a world as extensive as ours. Normally, this type of behavior can occur before the child is one year old, over nine months or even when they reach one year. But its high point can occur between the year and two years of the little one.

When children are between four or five years old, they can go through a phase known in psychoanalytic theory as the ‘Oedipus complex’, which would be mastitis in boys, or the ‘Electra complex’ in girls, which would be papititis. In these cases, the boys go through a kind of infatuation with the mother (and the girls with the father), and they just want to be with them and do everything with them.

These phases occur because children need to feel security that they do not feel for themselves and that only mom provides.

Why does mastitis occur?

There are many factors that can influence a child to have mastitis, but it will depend above all on the child’s age since it is a normal phase in their development, and what matters is that this phase can be successfully overcome. May he not be afraid of the world and may the mother, in addition to giving him all her unconditional love, also provide him with enough guidance so that his little one gains self-confidence to achieve his little battles. They need to feel stability and security and realize that although in mom’s arms everything is easier, they are also capable of achieving things.

At this stage, the little ones want to receive their mother’s attention at all times and that is why they can spend time saying ‘mom’ so that you focus all your attention on them.

What you should do and what you should not do at this stage

The first thing you should have at this stage is patience and be aware that you do not reject other people of your own free will, it is a necessity. Do not force him to have independence if he is not ready. It is necessary that you always leave him independence through the game so that he realizes his possibilities, little by little he will ask you for more freedom and independence, overcoming the mastitis phase almost by magic. And yes, although at times it has stressed you, later you will miss it.